Customer Reviews

Be Happy at Work: 100 Women Who Love Their Jobs, and Why

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After all, isn't being happy what we should do with our lives? But why are some women happy at work and others not? Joanne Gordon wanted to find out so she interviewed 100 women with varied careers: truck-drivers, CEOs, retailers, you name it. Then she boils down what makes them happy to a few common themes - process, purpose and people. What's great about the book? She leaves out the work-balance discussion and focuses on the work. This is a much more intriguing and thought-provoking read than Po Bronson's <em>What Should I Do With My Life?</em>

We spend almost a third of our life working, yet so many of us aren't happy with what we do. Joanne Gordon, author of Be Happy At Work, spent over a year searching for women who love what they do. Gordon has identified three themes and ten categories of happy working women. The 100 women come from all walks of life. Some are famous and some are everyday women. She tells their stories in a lively and straight-forward manner and discusses why they are happy and how we can achieve that same happiness in our own lives.

I liked Gordon's bullet point definitions and descriptions. They were easy to find, read and refer to again. The stories are inspiring. If you're not happy at work, you might want to read this book - and then spend some good old-fashioned thinking time about what you can do to change your situation.

The author identifies behavioral strategies requisite to selecting an enjoyable career that rewards and makes us happy. Specific motivational strategies include the following:

- Persons displaying an innate enthusiasm and energy
- Determined healers who try to facilitate disagreements rather
than exacerbate them
- Goal reachers who set goals and achieve them at each major
milestone
- Overcoming hurdles and obstacles to goal attainment

This work reinforces the notion that there are no happy jobs but
there are happy and well-adjusted workers. The volume would be
helpful for anyone engaged in career planning. The author emphasizes constructive behaviors and strategies aimed at enhancing the work group situation during major milestones.

I ordered this book as a result of a paper I was writing for a literature course based on writings from the American Workplace. The overwhelming majority of the writings in the anthology that we are using for the course depict some degree of disgruntlement or misery in these workers. I had set out from the opposite position - what factors contribute to a contented and enjoyable workplace, and a happy worker. The book arrived just in time and with exactly what I needed to finsh up my paper.

Don't get thrown off by the title, this is a book that every woman and man needs to read. Joanne does an excellent job of pulling together both the big picture secrets to being happier at work and the practical strategies in one easy read. I've been aware of her writing for Forbes for many years, but I was blown away by this book. There are very few authors out there who I would read whatever they wrote, but Joanne is one of them (and I wouldn't even say that about myself!). My only regret is that I can't give this book six stars.